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Women’s golf hopes to repeat SEC Championship BY TRAVIS BOLAND THE GAMECOCK With a team largely intact from the one that won the 2002 SEC Championship, the USC women’s golf team is set to start a brand new spring season, ready to begin its title defense. Carolina has six players returning from the championship squad, and there are three newcomers looking to make an im pact on the upcoming season as well. The Gamecocks enter the season ranked 22nd in the country, helped by some top finishes in their fall season. “Our talent level throughout our team will be a major key to our success this year,” said head coach Kristi Coggins, who is entering her ninth season at the helm of USC. “A repeat SEC title is at the top of our goals, along with bringing a national championship to Carolina.” Leading the way for the Gamecocks this spring will be senior Kristy McPherson, a two-time SEC tournament champion. McPherson was a First Team All American in 2001 and 2002, and is also a National Player of the Year Candidate. She is in her second season as the captain of the Gamecocks’ women’s golf team. “Kristy continues to shatter USC and SEC records,” Coggins said. “She is blessed with incredible talent and plays with heart Men’s Tennis CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5 He has been improving at an incredible rate since his subpar freshman year. Other veteran players include Ben Atkinson, Rob Cassidy, Nasir Sherazi and Carl Wermee. Softball CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3 March, they will be facing teams that ad vanced to the NCAA tournament last year. “Out of the 11 teams, outside of us, I would bet eight of them will be ranked throughout the year,” Compton said about USC’s conference opponents. Alabama is ranked 17th in the nation, while Florida and 13th-ranked Georgia are constant contenders for a NCAA berth. If and attitude rarely found. With another great season, I expect Kristy to rank among the most decorated women’s athletes in South Carolina history.” Junior Kory Thompson is coming off a strong fall showing, ranking second on the . team with a 75.11 stroke average. Her older sister, Kacy, who participated with the USA All-Star team that toured the Orient over the summer, joins her on the team. “Kory is a true competitor with an in tense desire to win,” Coggins said. “Her great work ethic and improved ability to stay in the game should produce individ ual titles and team successes for Kory.” The Gamecocks have significant depth on their team, as juniors Adrienne Gautreaux and Marci Robinson both should be major factors in USC’s success this season. Gautreaux played in every tournament in the 2001-2002 season, fin ishing last spring with the second-best stroke average on the team. Robinson has been a “consistent contributor” to the team, according to Coggins, and had her best round in the fall at the Lady Paladin Invitational, shooting a 74. Freshman Erica Battle finished the fall fourth on the team in stroke average with 77.33 per round. ♦ WOMEN'S GOLF, SEE PAGE 7 With all this talent, the Gamecocks have a legitimate shot to be one of the greatest squads in Carolina history and have a strong showing in the NCAA Tournament. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecocksports@hotmail.com Compton and her team liked the level of competition before conference play, they should love the SEC this year. But, ac cording to Compton, she and the team are taking the season one game at a time. “We can’t worry about who’s down the road,” Compton said. “You can’t worry the Alabama’s, the LSU’s, the Florida’s, the Georgia’s, ‘cause you’ve got to take care of the business at hand.” Comments on this story?E-mail gamecocksports@hotmai l. com after^ong1^el. BY TRAVIS BOLAND THE CAME COCK The USC men’s golf team looks to keep the momentum from its fall season going into the spring. Carolina finished the fall with a third-place finish in Turtle Bay Intercollegiate in Kahuku, Hawaii. “We have a nucleus of players who are committed to returning the program to na tional prominence,” head coach Puggy Blackmon said. “It became very apparent as the fall progressed.” Carolina began its spring season at the Tulane Invitational in New Orleans, where it placed sixth out of nine teams. Leading the way for the Gamecocks was freshman Eirik Johansen, who shot a combined three-round score of222. Johansen was one of three members on the team who played in all four fall tournaments. Blackmon considers Johansen, from Stavanger, Norway, to be a rising star in the Carolina men’s golf program. “In the 20 years of coaching, I have not coached a player with greater desire and work ethic than Eirik,” Blackmon said. “He could possibly be one of the best golfers in South Carolina history.” Also playing well at the Tulane Invitational was sophomore Alex Hamilton, who shot a combined three-round score of 223. Hamilton also competed in all the fall tournaments, averaging a score of75.75 per round. As a freshman last year, Hamilton recorded a low-round score of 67 at the Cleveland Golf-Augusta State Invitational. “Following a great summer, Alex didn’t perform as well as he would like, but there is no doubt that Alex will play a major role during the upcoming spring season,” Blackmon said. The other member who played in all four tournaments last fall was sophomore Martin Rominger. A native of Switzerland, Rominger finished fourth on the team with a stroke average of 73.9. In last year’s SEC Championships, Rominger hit a three round score of 216 to finish in a tie for eighth place. Among the other players who will make a big impact on the spring season is red shirt freshman West Streib, who emerged as a bright spot during the fall season. Streib led the team in stroke average at 73.3 per round. “West has taken the game to the next level and will also be an impact player dur ing the spring campaign,” Blackmon said. Also promising is redshirt junior Michael Maness, who posted two top-10 fin ishes in the fall and recorded the second lowest stroke average on the team with a 73.6. His top-10 performances came at the Carpet Capital Collegiate and Turtle Bay Intercollegiate. Micnaei is assuming tne role oi leader through his practice habits and playing abil ity,” Blackmon said. “He will definitely be a factor in the team’s success this spring.” Rounding out the men’s golf team are Johan Kok, Jake Thompson, Matt Robinson, Jonathan Jackson, Jason Huguet and Nash Elliot. Carolina will continue its regular sea son March 10, when the team will partici pate in the Seminole Intercollegiate, host ed by Florida State University in Tallahassee, Fla. The Gamecocks will make a run for the conference champi onship from April 25 to 27 at the SEC tour nament, held in St. Simmons Island, Ga. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecocksports@hotma il. com